WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.379 birth fourteen anger from between brahma's eyebrows 00:00:05.379 --> 00:00:12.300 one scriptural basis anger as a body part power 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:16.839 in one key passage the srimad bhagavata maha 00:00:16.839 --> 00:00:20.300 purana teaches that different sins and powers 00:00:20.300 --> 00:00:23.780 come out of different parts of brahma's body 00:00:23.780 --> 00:00:27.780 in this list anger is said to come from between 00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:31.339 his eyebrows while lust comes from his heart, 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:35.939 greed from his lips, speech from his mouth, the 00:00:35.939 --> 00:00:40.179 oceans from his genitals, and low and abominable 00:00:40.179 --> 00:00:44.960 activities from his anus. Srimad Bhagavata Mahaparana, 00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:49.520 Canto 3, The Status Quo, Chapter 12, Verse 26 00:00:50.299 --> 00:00:53.820 in other words anger is not described first as 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:56.539 a wrong choice of a creature but as something 00:00:56.539 --> 00:00:59.380 that begins in the body of the creator figure 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:03.759 himself the same chapter later shows how brahma's 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.180 inner life actually spills over into shameful 00:01:07.180 --> 00:01:10.819 actions when he becomes attracted to his own 00:01:10.819 --> 00:01:15.579 daughter vak his sons rebuke him he then gives 00:01:15.579 --> 00:01:18.700 up a body that had become stained by this behaviour 00:01:18.700 --> 00:01:22.920 and that thrown -off body appears as a dark dangerous 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:27.140 fog that fills the universe srimad bhagavata 00:01:27.140 --> 00:01:31.299 maha purana canto three chapter twelve verses 00:01:31.299 --> 00:01:35.480 twenty seven to twenty nine in this picture what 00:01:35.480 --> 00:01:39.299 lies between his eyebrows is not just a neutral 00:01:39.299 --> 00:01:43.359 location it is the place where anger starts and 00:01:43.359 --> 00:01:46.540 that anger belongs to the same inner world that 00:01:46.540 --> 00:01:50.579 produces lust and shame this raises simple but 00:01:50.579 --> 00:01:54.480 serious questions if the first anger in the universe 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.980 comes from the creator's own face how can he 00:01:57.980 --> 00:02:01.459 be the pure standard by which all anger is judged 00:02:01.980 --> 00:02:05.340 if his body is already a mixture of holy things 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:09.240 and unholy things some coming from the head some 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.659 from the heart some from the lower openings how 00:02:12.659 --> 00:02:15.620 can we say that evil began with created beings 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:19.280 instead of with their maker's inner life and 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:22.300 if anger is built into the creator in this way 00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:26.800 is anger really an enemy he opposes or just one 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:31.330 more power that flows out of him two the scientific 00:02:31.330 --> 00:02:36.129 prosecution can anger literally come from between 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:39.810 eyebrows if we take this story as a statement 00:02:39.810 --> 00:02:43.270 about bodies and not just as poetry it makes 00:02:43.270 --> 00:02:46.930 claims that can be tested the verse speaks as 00:02:46.930 --> 00:02:49.830 if anger physically comes out from the space 00:02:49.830 --> 00:02:53.139 between brahma's eyebrows in simple physical 00:02:53.139 --> 00:02:57.219 terms what is between eyebrows is skin small 00:02:57.219 --> 00:03:00.159 muscles that move the brow connective tissue 00:03:00.159 --> 00:03:05.000 nerves and bone there is no special anger gland 00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.219 there from basic brain science we know that angry 00:03:09.219 --> 00:03:12.379 feelings are tied to brain activity especially 00:03:12.379 --> 00:03:16.139 in deep brain areas and the frontal lobes to 00:03:16.139 --> 00:03:19.219 hormones released from glands in the body and 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:23.020 to the nervous system they do not leak from a 00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:28.080 strip of skin over the eyes to say anger comes 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.199 from between the eyebrows is to confuse a symbol 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:36.259 a facial expression that shows anger with a source 00:03:36.259 --> 00:03:40.919 the inner cause of anger a furrowed brow can 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:44.599 show anger but it does not create it if some 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.599 one insisted that this description is ancient 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:50.930 science they would need to answer simple questions 00:03:50.930 --> 00:03:54.930 what substance is anger made of when it comes 00:03:54.930 --> 00:03:58.710 out from between the eyebrows how does this substance 00:03:58.710 --> 00:04:03.110 travel from brahma to other beings if anger is 00:04:03.110 --> 00:04:06.509 a kind of stuff where is it stored in the body 00:04:06.509 --> 00:04:10.110 and how is it measured without answers the claim 00:04:10.110 --> 00:04:13.469 is clearly not a serious description of how bodies 00:04:13.469 --> 00:04:16.850 and emotions work it is a picture drawn from 00:04:16.850 --> 00:04:20.470 the surface of the face We frown when angry and 00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:24.189 project it onto a god without any real understanding 00:04:24.189 --> 00:04:29.050 of the brain or the body. 3. Simple, logical 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:33.230 questions. What kind of god does this describe? 00:04:33.430 --> 00:04:37.170 If anger really starts between Brahma's eyebrows 00:04:37.170 --> 00:04:40.509 and that anger belongs to him before it belongs 00:04:40.509 --> 00:04:44.089 to anyone else, then anger is a built -in part 00:04:44.089 --> 00:04:47.420 of the being at the top of this world. that means 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:51.660 the universe begins with a god whose inner life 00:04:51.660 --> 00:04:57.240 includes anger lust greed and shame these forces 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:00.259 do not first appear as the sins of creatures 00:05:00.259 --> 00:05:05.079 but as powers in his own body this makes him 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:08.779 very different from a holy and unchanging god 00:05:08.779 --> 00:05:11.779 instead of being fully good from the beginning 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:14.939 He looks more like a person whose own feelings 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:19.240 are unstable and mixed. His heart produces lust. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:23.379 The space between his eyebrows produces anger. 00:05:23.899 --> 00:05:28.240 His lower parts produce filthy actions. Then 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:31.500 he has to throw away a bad body because he is 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:34.540 ashamed of what he has done. That sounds like 00:05:34.540 --> 00:05:38.759 a God who grows, fails, and cleans up after himself, 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:43.120 not an all -pure creator. If this is the kind 00:05:43.120 --> 00:05:45.899 of God you start with, it becomes hard to say 00:05:45.899 --> 00:05:50.019 why anger or lust are truly wrong. How can they 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:53.519 be fully evil if they are part of him? If we 00:05:53.519 --> 00:05:58.060 say anger is sin in us, but not sin in him, we 00:05:58.060 --> 00:06:01.180 are using two different measures. That double 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:03.959 standard undercuts the idea that there is one 00:06:03.959 --> 00:06:08.879 clear, unchanging moral law for everyone. the 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:13.439 eyebrow anger of the sages if this verse is held 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:17.720 up as deep wisdom or subtle psychology it is 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:21.060 fair to ask what it really offers it tells us 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:25.839 that lust pours out from a god's heart anger 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:30.000 comes from between his eyebrows the lowest sins 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:34.579 flow from his anus this is not real medicine 00:06:34.579 --> 00:06:39.750 real psychology or real science. It is an old 00:06:39.750 --> 00:06:42.750 way of speaking that treats body parts as if 00:06:42.750 --> 00:06:46.629 they were the engines of moral forces. in everyday 00:06:46.629 --> 00:06:50.790 life people still say i feel it in my heart or 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:54.550 it was written on his face but nobody serious 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:57.689 today thinks that the skin between our eyebrows 00:06:57.689 --> 00:07:01.350 physically produces anger when such language 00:07:01.350 --> 00:07:04.589 is transferred to a god and then defended as 00:07:04.589 --> 00:07:08.490 sacred truth it deserves to be challenged there 00:07:08.490 --> 00:07:12.269 is also a spiritual danger here people who are 00:07:12.269 --> 00:07:15.610 crushed by their own anger may already feel that 00:07:15.610 --> 00:07:19.709 evil is in their bones this story tells them 00:07:19.709 --> 00:07:23.529 that such anger is also in the god at the head 00:07:23.529 --> 00:07:26.730 of everything that it began between his eyebrows 00:07:26.730 --> 00:07:30.990 before it began in them that does not set them 00:07:30.990 --> 00:07:34.269 free from anger it makes anger feel like part 00:07:34.269 --> 00:07:37.899 of the deepest layer of reality Instead of giving 00:07:37.899 --> 00:07:41.439 them a holy and calm Creator who stands above 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.860 their rage and can heal it, it gives them a God 00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:48.139 who shares their problem at the most basic level. 00:07:48.579 --> 00:07:52.740 5. The Holy Heart of God and the Human Heart 00:07:52.740 --> 00:07:56.240 The Bible talks about the heart of God and the 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.899 heart of man in a very different way. It says 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:04.040 about the true God that God is light. In Him 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:07.699 there is no darkness at all. first epistle of 00:08:07.699 --> 00:08:11.920 john chapter one verse five that means that no 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:17.379 sin no wrong desire no unjust anger ever begins 00:08:17.379 --> 00:08:21.879 inside him he is pure goodness when the bible 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:26.139 talks about a face or eyes of god it is using 00:08:26.139 --> 00:08:29.420 picture language but those pictures never mean 00:08:29.420 --> 00:08:33.340 that sin comes out of god's face about humans 00:08:33.340 --> 00:08:37.649 scripture says The heart is deceitful above all 00:08:37.649 --> 00:08:41.730 things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 00:08:42.169 --> 00:08:46.889 Book of Jeremiah, chapter 17, verse 9. Many translations. 00:08:47.710 --> 00:08:51.090 In other words, our anger and our wrong desires 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:56.149 start in our hearts, not in God's. This is the 00:08:56.149 --> 00:09:00.309 opposite of the Puranic picture. There, lust 00:09:00.309 --> 00:09:03.570 and anger start in the heart and brow of the 00:09:03.570 --> 00:09:07.500 Creator. In the Bible, they start in fallen people 00:09:07.500 --> 00:09:10.860 who have turned away from the Creator. Jesus 00:09:10.860 --> 00:09:14.360 Christ takes this even deeper when he says, Anyone 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:17.899 who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed 00:09:17.899 --> 00:09:21.320 adultery with her in his heart. Gospel according 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:25.539 to Matthew, chapter 5, verse 28. He does not 00:09:25.539 --> 00:09:28.779 say that lust comes from God's heart or God's 00:09:28.779 --> 00:09:32.799 body. He says it is our inner problem. at the 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:35.860 same time he shows a heart that is completely 00:09:35.860 --> 00:09:40.539 pure he is tempted but does not sin he never 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:44.600 acts from selfish anger he does become angry 00:09:44.600 --> 00:09:48.220 at hypocrisy and injustice but that anger is 00:09:48.220 --> 00:09:52.120 always right and never mixed with sin from a 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:55.519 presuppositional point of view a god whose own 00:09:55.519 --> 00:09:59.480 eyebrows give birth to anger cannot be the firm 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:03.799 ground for logic morality and human worth. If 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:07.440 evil sits inside him from the start, then evil 00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:10.679 is part of what reality is, not something that 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:14.279 has gone wrong. But the God of the Bible is fully 00:10:14.279 --> 00:10:18.519 good, and his anger is always clean, aimed at 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:22.919 real evil, never driven by selfish passion. That 00:10:22.919 --> 00:10:26.139 kind of God can truly judge our anger, forgive 00:10:26.139 --> 00:10:29.320 it, and change us. For someone who lives with 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:33.549 deep anger, Maybe from abuse, betrayal, or long 00:10:33.549 --> 00:10:37.309 injustice, the difference matters. One story 00:10:37.309 --> 00:10:41.830 says, Anger is in your God, just as it is in 00:10:41.830 --> 00:10:46.370 you. It started between his eyebrows. The other 00:10:46.370 --> 00:10:50.230 says, Anger is in your heart, because you and 00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:53.570 your world are broken, but your Maker is not 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:57.629 broken, and in Christ he can give you a new heart. 00:10:58.159 --> 00:11:01.600 Only the second story gives real hope that anger 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:05.019 is not part of God's nature, and so it does not 00:11:05.019 --> 00:11:06.620 have to rule ours forever.